At WIRE 2018, Aachener Maschinenbau GmbH (AMBA) is going to introduce its new all-in-one machines for the production of up to 200-mm-long bolts at unsurpassed rates. In these machines, several upsetting operations take place simultaneously. Compared to conventional machines, this achieves an increase in throughput many times over – also with bolt heads of complex shapes.

Bolts in lengths between 160 and 180 mm are typically produced at a rate of 60 pieces per minute.

In contrast, the new all-in-one machine offered by AMBA produces upset bolt blanks of 60 to 200 mm length at a much higher rate. The first machine of this new all-in-one design can produce up to 400 bolts per minute, or 24,000 pieces per hour.

The new AMBA machines achieve this dramatic increase in throughput by first upsetting one end of the rod, then rotating the rod and upsetting the opposite end – in an integrated secondary upsetting station the machine. The thus produced bolt blanks have a head at both ends. At the end of the process, they will be cut in half. This means that at a production rate of 180 to 200 pieces per minute the machine actually delivers 360 to 400 bolts.

Manfred Houben, one of the two Managing Directors of AMBA, sees great potential also for the production of bolts with complex head shapes: „To produce heads of complex shapes, we can arrange several upsetting stations in a row to perform several, let“s say, three or four, blows at one end of the bolt blank. This is extremely helpful in order to cater to, for example, the growing demand for increasingly bigger flat heads. As all the upsetting operations take place simultaneously, we can also produce sophisticated head shapes at the same high rates.“

The machines can handle bolts with diameters between 4 and 10 mm, in lengths ranging between 60 and 400 mm, depending on the rod diameter.

The new machines are built according to the all-in-one principle which AMBA also uses in many other machines designs. What makes the machines so special is the fact that all process steps take place within one single machine – everything from the synchronized decoiler of the wire, upsetting of the bolt heads and thread rolling down to placing the finished products in an automated process in transport boxes. As all process steps are mechanically coupled, highest process reliability is guaranteed.

Thanks to the modular design of the machines, additional functions such as pinching of the tip, machining or milling of grooves or turning and deburring of tube ends can be easily integrated.

Aachener Maschinenbau GmbH – generally referred to as „AMBA“ – was founded in 1908, at a time when Aachen was worldwide famous for its high-quality needle production. The company has evolved into an internationally renowned builder of machines used to make cold-formed metal components.

Today AMBA specializes in machines for the production of long parts with varying cross-sections, for example, bolts between 60 and 2,500 mm long, tubes and spokes.

With its all-in-one design, AMBA is worldwide the only manufacturer of machines capable of producing such long and complex parts within one single machine. All process steps, from the input stock – wire or tube blanks – all the way down to the finished, packaged product, are handled by one machine, which is unique in the industry.

At its current headquarters in Alsdorf near Aachen, AMBA employs 49 people in its development and design departments, in the workshops and in after-sales service.